46 schools identified for low performance on testsLITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Department of Education has identified 46 schools around the state with consistently low performance on state tests. The “priority” schools had scored in the bottom 5 percent on the exams given over three years, in 2012, 2013 and 2014, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported. They include eight in the Little Rock district, four in Pulaski County Special, four in Pine Bluff, three in Forrest City and two in Fort Smith....

Dover briefed on ACT Aspire“It doesn’t matter what testing format our students face. If they’ve been taught to think, they can deal with any test,” Dover District Testing Coordinator Verna Boxnick told the Dover School Board at its regular monthly meeting. Boxnick was presenting an overview of the newly state-mandated ACT Aspire testing program which will replace the Common Core affiliated PARCC assessments administered last year. She said that grades 3-10 would receive...

Event helped local organizationHundreds gathered in Russellville July 23 to attend a fundraising dinner for impoverished single parents working to achieve post-secondary education in Pope and Yell Counties. Statewide, 19.4% of Arkansans are living in poverty — 4th highest in the nation. In some Delta counties, the rate is as high as 34%. Nearly 1 in 5 Arkansas families are led by single parents; of that number, 80% are single mothers, which is why events like this fundraise...

Capt. Jimmy Cartwright remembered during ceremonyJane Cartwright Bristow and Betty Cartwright Lancaster sat front and center at the Pope County Fairgrounds on Thursday evening as Arkansas Tech University remembered their brother, Capt. Jimmy Cartwright. A 1960 graduate of Arkansas Tech, Capt. Cartwright died on June 23, 1964, when his plane was shot down by hostile fire in Vietnam. He was the first of 588 Arkansans to die in Vietnam, and he was the only graduate of the Arkansas Tech ROTC pro...

Board supports school price bidDOVER — The Dover School Board heard a presentation during its August meeting Thursday from Mark Hurley of Van Horn Construction who showed the latest revised plans for the in-progress middle school project. The changes Hurley pointed out were mostly designed to maximize parking areas at minimal cost and represented a total gain of 70-80 spaces. There was a bit of amused confusion when Hurley pointed out an outdoor “detention area,” and had to...

Study finds peak months for college students’ probable initial drug useCHICAGO — Parents worried that their college-bound children might succumb to the temptations of campus life may want to take note of a new analysis that found that students tend to experiment with specific types of drugs for the first time during certain times of year. College students tend to try stimulants such as Adderall and Ritalin for the first time in November, December or April, according to the examination of 12 years of government su...

Exodus Project graduates student inmatesLITTLE ROCK ­­–The Exodus Project, formerly known as Under Grace, graduated their third group of student inmates from the Exodus Academy during a graduation ceremony at Arkansas Baptist College. Eric Higgins, director of outcomes for Exodus delivered the keynote address for the ceremony recognizing the accomplishments of the 15 inmates. “This experience, known as the Academy, is a three month program that gives students a mindset and plan to s...

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FOR THE COURIER / SubmittedThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Mascot fight in Ohio goes down to the wireCOLUMBUS, Ohio — A high school football team that has featured a tiger cub at games for decades might kick off the season without its beloved mascot because of rules implemented after a suicidal man released dozens of dangerous animals in 2011. Boosters typically lease a cub called Obie each year to play the mascot of Massillon’s Washington High School Tigers, whose rich football tradition includes helping launch the career of Cleveland Browns...

Community photo: Nurse Journal ranks ATU among top nursing programsNurse Journal has ranked Arkansas Tech University in the top 12 of its “Best Nursing Schools: Best in the Eastern Region” for 2015. According to its website, Nurse Journal evaluated 1,189 nursing programs on their performance in five categories — quality, affordability, convenience, satisfaction and value — to determine the rankings. ATU’s scores in those five categories allowed it to rank among the top one percent of all nursing programs incl...

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THE COURIER / SubmittedThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Danville schools move into digital ageSince 2012, the Danville School District has made a targeted effort to incorporate technology into its classrooms. Today, those efforts have paid off. “Danville Schools are at the forefront of education, especially when it comes to technology-rich lessons,”Randy Isely, district curriculum administrator, said. In 2012, the district and school board developed a five-year plan with six goals; one of the goals was to “ensure that technology is an ...

Danville schools move into digital ageSince 2012, the Danville School District has made a targeted effort to incorporate technology into its classrooms. Today, those efforts have paid off. "Danville Schools are at the forefront of education, especially when it comes to technology-rich lessons,"Randy Isely, district curriculum administrator, said. In 2012, the district and school board developed a five-year plan with six goals; one of the goals was to "ensure that technology is an ...

Gov. Hutchinson addresses Arkansas Tech Class of 2019While speaking to the second annual Arkansas Tech University freshman convocation on Tuesday morning, Gov. Asa Hutchinson told incoming students that they should always be prepared for leadership development. “My leadership skills were developed as crew chief for the night cleaning crew in my college gymnasium,” said Hutchinson. “It was there that I learned about encouragement, supply chain management, people and interacting with them…those ar...

New faces at Russellville school districtRussellville School District began the new school year with a few new faces throughout the district with six administration positions and 64 teachers who are new to their positions. Justin Robertson, CPA, is the new chief financial officer/assistant to the superintendent for the district. Prior to working for RSD, Robertson was a field auditor with the Division of Legislative Audit for nine years. He has also held the position of staff auditor...

ATU seeks to add two undergrad programsArkansas Tech University will develop two new undergraduate degree programs following Thursday’s action by the ATU Board of Trustees. Trustees approved letters of intent that will be forwarded to the Arkansas Higher Education Coordinating Board (AHECB) announcing the university’s plans to create a Bachelor of Arts degree in game and interactive media design and a Bachelor of Science degree in environmental science. Dr. A.J. Anglin, interim vic...

Smoke causes evacuationRussellville firefighters and police responded to Dwight Elementary School on Monday morning about 9:20 to a fire alarm. Students were evacuated from the building for a little over an hour due to smoke entering the building from roof repair work.

Your eyes are getting heavy..Willing Arkansas Tech University freshmen underwent hypnosis by Matt Grisham for the entertainment of other incoming freshmen Sunday night in the Witherspoon auditorium. Welcome Week continued Monday with the Class of 2019 formal orientation.

Campus restaurant plans to sell alcoholCONWAY — The University of Central Arkansas Board of Trustees has approved a lease for an on-campus restaurant that plans to sell alcohol. The lease with Mosaique Bistro and Grill was approved Friday on a 6-1 vote with board member Kay Hinkle voting against it and retired minister James Davis of Conway speaking against allowing alcohol sales on campus. Hinkle said afterward that she voted no because of a university policy against serving liquo...

Staggs takes on new role at Dover ElementaryAs the hustle and bustle of the first week of school winds down, Dover Elementary School's new assistant principal took a little time to reflect on the transition from teacher to administrator. Ryan Staggs spent 10 years as a teacher before accepting the assistant principal position this year. In some ways, however, it's also nostalgic. Staggs student taught at Dover while he worked on his degree at Arkansas Tech University. The Atkins High Sc...

Arkansas Tech debuts websiteA fresh and modern look now greets visitors to the Arkansas Tech University website, www.atu.edu. The refreshed site went live over the Aug. 15-16 weekend. “Our website represents one of our most important and effective communications tools,” said Sam Strasner, director of university relations. “It is a daily source of information for a variety of constituents, including faculty, staff, students, alumni, friends of the university and prospecti...